3. Vendetta

by Fern Michaels

  “I know. I’m prepared to eat macaroni and cheese for the rest of my life with maybe a little peanut butter thrown in. I’ll do my own laundry, collect aluminum cans if I have to. I’ll take my turn out in the tree.”

  “Yeah, I guess I’ll take a turn up in the damn tree to keep expenses down. You know we’re going to get our asses in a sling, right, Jack?”

  “Probably, but I’m not going to worry about it or go down without a fight,” Jack said.

  “Does this mean we’re not ordering a takeout Thanksgiving dinner? You know, in the spirit of keeping expenses down?”

  “That’s what it means. Spam sandwiches for us. I’ll make it up to you, Mark. Now, let’s put our heads together and try to get one step ahead of those foxy ladies and their fearless MI6 guy. My gut tells me we’re about to get up to bat and are going to kick some serious ass.”

  “Man, I hope to hell you’re right, Jack. I don’t ever want to go another round with those gold shields!”

  “Those guys are the stuff nightmares are made of. It’s going to work out, Mark. I feel it.”

  Myra moved her hand to touch her shoulder, her eyes lighting up like Christmas trees. She squared her shoulders as she drew in a deep breath and moved closer to the cell door, but still far enough away so Chai couldn’t touch her through the bars.

  “Welcome to Pinewood, John Chai. This will be your home away from home into eternity. I’m Myra Rutledge. You killed my daughter and the child she carried. I’ve waited a very long time to meet you. Don’t say a word in your defense, Mr. Chai, because if you do, I will have to close your lips permanently. I want you to take a good look at me and know you took away my child. There’s nothing you can ever do to make it right. What that means to you, Mr. Chai, is this: I’m going to punish you for your crime. I’m going to make you wish you were dead. I am going to do terrible, unspeakable things to you. Even that won’t be enough. Start praying, Mr. Chai.” Without another word, Myra turned and started to walk away, the others following her.

  Charles stayed behind a few more minutes. He pitched the bottle of water through the iron bars, along with the slice of stale bread. Chai’s hysterical voice followed him all the way down the tunnel. He didn’t look back.

  Before Charles followed the women into the house he took a long moment to ponder what had just transpired. For some reason he’d expected Myra to get hysterical, to vent and wail. But she’d done none of those things. He wondered why.

  In the kitchen the women resumed their preparations for their Thanksgiving dinner. They were talking about everything but John Chai. Charles noticed, however, that they watched Myra covertly. Myra was humming under her breath as she got dishes and mixing bowls out of the cabinets and placed them strategically along the counters. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going to go into them. It was a wise man who knew when to retreat. Besides, he wanted to check with his friend Su Zhou Li to see what, if anything, was happening in his corner of the world. Charles excused himself and made his way to the war room. The women waved airily and continued with what they were doing.

  An hour later a mantle of worry settled over Charles’s shoulders. Li wasn’t answering either his house phone or the encrypted cellphones. He then tried his BlackBerry with the same result. He placed calls to old friends on the other side of the pond to see if they could find out any news on his old friend. Forty minutes later all his calls were returned with the same information. There was no trace of his old friend Su Zhou Li.

  Charles looked down at his watch. Julia should be arriving any second now. He closed up shop, turned off the television monitors and set his machines to take all incoming messages. It was time to follow through on John Chai’s visit.

  In the kitchen, which was so fragrant he couldn’t believe it, he headed straight for the circle of women to welcome Julia. She looked up, a radiant smile on her face.

  “Charles!” She ran to him and gave him the biggest hug he’d ever had. “I feel like I finally came home! Oh, I missed you all so much. Yes, yes, I feel wonderful! Look at me, I put on ten pounds. My counts are all good. The doctors are more than pleased. Tell me I can do something now that I’m here. I’m not the least bit tired because I slept all the way here.”

  “If you think you’re up to a little mission, we have one planned for you.” Charles said, motioning to the others to gather round and listen. “Alexis will strip off your present disguise and give you a new one. You are going to become Mr. Gan Jun and you will be going to the Chinese embassy in Washington. Once inside, you will ask to use the rest room, get rid of the disguise, and leave with a second disguise that Alexis will provide you with. The plan is this. Everyone here will leave in their respective vehicles. If anyone is out there watching, and we have to assume they are, they can’t follow all of you. I’ve taken the time to map out routes for each of you. When Julia leaves the embassy in her second disguise, she will be walking. One of you will pick her up and bring her back here in yet a third disguise. The rest of you will return here at different times during the evening. Go along, girls; Myra and I will finish up here. Lovely bird,” he said, looking at the turkey sitting on the counter.

  It was four o’clock when Charles wrapped the turkey in a damp towel and placed it in the refrigerator. He looked up, his jaw dropping. “Good Lord! Julia, you look more like Gan Jun than he did when he came in here. Good work, Alexis! Julia, remember, you’re a mute. This is the paper you hand to the receptionist that simply says you are looking for your granddaughter who came to this country two years ago. Just bob your head up and down when they speak with you and get to the rest room as quickly as possible. Here is a map I lifted off the Internet showing the floor plan of the embassy. Are you sure you’re up for this, my dear?”

  “Charles, I am so up for this you cannot believe it. Don’t worry, I can do it. Listen, I’d like a BLT when I get back, with some good American coffee.”

  “I’ll see to it, my dear. All right now, everyone out at the same time. Good luck! Isabelle, you will be driving my Mercedes. Nikki will be driving Julia. Alexis will drive her own Mini Cooper and Kathryn will of course be driving her truck with Murphy. Myra is going to follow in her own Mercedes, which looks just like mine. Hurry now. If you encounter any problems, call me immediately.”

  Myra was the last to leave. Charles put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you…?”

  “Charles, I’m fine. I really am.” She lowered her voice to a soft whisper. “Barbara…Barbara was…She talked to me, Charles. That’s how I was able to…to deal with John Chai. Oh, I have so much to tell you, but it will have to wait until tonight. We’ll snuggle by the fireplace after the others go to bed. I have to go now; the girls are waiting for me. Love you.”

  Charles beamed with pleasure. “I’ll be waiting, Myra.”

  Nikki and Julia kept up a running conversation about skiing in Switzerland, which neither one of them had ever done, the weather in general and Julia’s hearty plant in Myra’s kitchen. They were almost to Connecticut Avenue when Julia asked if there was any news of her husband, the former Senator Mitch Webster.

  “You probably know as much as I do, Julia. Charles doesn’t talk about it to any of us. He might discuss it with Myra, but I’m not sure. You know his rule: once a mission is over, it’s over. We move on and don’t discuss it. Do you care, Julia?”

  “No, I don’t care. I just want to know he’s suffering.”

  Nikki laughed. “Working on a farm for twenty-five cents a week in Africa! I’d say he’s suffering. It’s a far cry from the Senate halls. But let’s not talk about your ex-husband.”

  “He’s not my ex, Nikki. We’re still married. Charles is working on that end of it.”

  “We all missed you, Julia. You’re coming back for Christmas, right?”

  “Absolutely. I wouldn’t miss Christmas at the farm for anything. I’ve been shopping like crazy. I’m doing so well, Nikki, it’s scary. I know it’s all experimental, but all cures start out that way. I’m very optim
istic.”

  “I’m so glad, so happy for you, Julia. Look, we’re almost there. Do you have it all straight? You’re sure you can do this?”

  “I’m sure, Nikki. This is some disguise. I really feel like an old Chinese man. I have my other clothes underneath. I go out the rear door next to a sitting room that is painted scarlet with gold accents. I can walk in either direction. I get in the first car I see that belongs to us. That’s when I get rid of the second disguise, turn the jacket inside out, put on a new wig, gloves, muffler and hat. I replace my shoes with fur boots. I got it, Nikki. I have my paper that I give to the receptionist. I do have a question, though. If someone is following us — me in particular — what’s to stop them from going into the embassy to ask where I am and what I’m doing there?”

  “And you really think the receptionist will talk with that person? Not in this lifetime. That’s a dead end for whoever is following you — if anyone is. OK, here we are, four-eight-four-nine Connecticut Ave. I’ll double-park, get out, help you out and walk you to the door. Then I’ll leave. You have your cellphone. Call any of us if there’s a problem. Remember, walk stooped over, look like you’re going to collapse any minute. Stop every few steps like you’re trying to get your breathing under control.”

  “In my other life, my secret life I never talk about, I always wanted to be an actress, just like Alexis did.”

  “Be sure you give an Academy Award performance. Sit tight.” Nikki stopped the car, got out and ran around to the passenger door and opened it. She wasted a few minutes, in case anyone was watching, to help Julia out of the car. Together they hobbled up to the entrance of the embassy. The door was opened almost immediately. Nikki stepped back when Julia handed the note to the two gentlemen standing on each side of the open door. They nodded and ushered Julia inside, at which point Nikki walked back to her car and drove away. She called Charles immediately.

  “She’s inside and I’m outta here. I didn’t spot a tail but that doesn’t mean one isn’t out there. See you in an hour. No traffic tonight. Guess everyone left the city for the long holiday weekend. See ya when I see ya.”

  Thirteen

  Jack Emery swatted at his forehead not once but three times as he tried to comprehend what he was hearing. Conover had called to say all the women of Pinewood were leaving in separate vehicles.

  “The old guy managed to walk out under his own power and he’s getting into one of the cars. I can’t get a good fix on it, Jack. Most of the cars are black and there are no lights on outside. The cars aren’t putting their headlights on, either. Martin is still inside. The house is all lit up, smoke coming out of all the chimneys.”

  “Which car is the old gent in?”

  “He was in the first one, I think, but they started to jockey the cars so the big rig could get turned around. Maybe the third one, then again it could be the second one. I can’t see, Jack. These night-vision lenses are shit for the birds. What do you want me to do?”

  “Nothing. Sit there and don’t move.”

  The cellphone rang the moment Jack broke the connection with Conover. “You on it, Moody?”

  “Yeah. Which one do you want me to follow?”

  “Whichever car has two people in it.”

  “Jack, they aren’t all going in the same direction. I can’t see who’s in the cars. And there’s a cop sitting a half-mile up the road with a radar trap. Make up your mind, Jack, the cars are going past me right now.”

  “Where’s the big rig?”

  “It’s in the lead. Then a sedan, a little Mini Cooper, then another sedan. Two cars split off and went in the other direction. There’s one sitting on the road waiting for a break in traffic. Don’t know which way she’s going.”

  “That’s only six cars. I thought there were seven.”

  “Six, Jack. Conover said the Asian girl hasn’t come back. Six. What do you want me to do?”

  “Follow the rig. I think they use it for…their tricks.”

  “OK. I can keep that one in sight. The other one just passed me. I got a good look at her because she’s going slow. Older woman, gray hair, I think. She’s wearing glasses.”

  “Stay with the rig, Moody. Report in as soon as you know something.”

  “OK, I’m outta here.”

  Jack slumped back in his chair. He looked at Mark through narrowed eyes. “They are smart!” He related the two phone calls for Mark’s benefit.

  “Maybe they’re taking the old guy to the hospital or maybe they’re taking him to a doctor who doesn’t make house calls. It is a holiday weekend. If the old guy is sick they probably realize they aren’t going to get a doctor easily if something is wrong. By the way, who was the old lady who arrived this afternoon?”

  Jack shrugged. “No idea. Maybe a relative of Myra Rutledge’s. The way Moody described her, it sounded like the old lady that was out at Pinewood a few months ago. Why are you asking?” Jack asked.

  “No reason. Old lady, old guy, that kind of thing. Whoever she is, she’s back at Pinewood with Martin. Don’t suppose it means anything. It is Thanksgiving and people tend to invite other people for dinner. By the way, are you going to see your mother tomorrow?”

  Jack rubbed at his temples. “I was going to but…Oh, she doesn’t know me. I take her things and she gives them away. Once in a great while she’ll call me Jackie like she remembers me, and then whatever was there is gone. I bawl my eyes out all the way home. I call almost every day. The nurses say she’s happy in her own little world. She even has friends. She was taking piano lessons a few months ago. The amazing thing is she didn’t forget from lesson to lesson. Go figure that one.”

  “I can’t. I only asked in case you wanted me to go with you.”

  “I’ll go for Christmas. Mom always loved Christmas. She’d start shopping in July and hide the stuff so my sister and I wouldn’t find it. We always did. Man, did she decorate the house. It looked like the North Pole, Macy’s and FAO Schwarz all rolled into one. My dad just humored her. She cooked for days and days, then gave half of it away. Sometimes I wish I was a kid again,” Jack said, his voice cracking with emotion.

  “Yeah, mothers are like that. I think we should pack up and go home, Jack.”

  “Yeah, let’s go home.”

  Mark clapped his friend on the back. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this one way or the other. They might be smart, Jack, but they aren’t that smart. Sooner or later one of them is going to mess up. That’s when we’ll get them.”

  Mark turned off the lights and locked the door. A light snow was falling as they made their way to their cars.

  Jack climbed behind the wheel of his car. Half his mind was on his mother and the other half was thinking about what Mark had said about old people.

  In the restroom Julia entered one of the stalls and removed the two-piece black sack suit with the assorted padding. She stuffed it into the trash bin. Underneath, she wore bright-red slacks with a matching sweater jacket. She ripped at the gray wig, the mustache and the goatee, folded all three into a tight square, and stuffed it into the pocket of her sweater. She was now wearing a short black wig. The black fur boots looked fashionable and had been covered by the baggy black pants. The last thing she did was take a little ball of latex from her pocket. She positioned a bit of it at the corner of each eye. She immediately took on an Asian appearance.

  Julia exited the stall, looked around to be sure no one was watching her. She opened the door cautiously and peered out. No one was in sight. She walked out boldly, looking neither to the right nor the left. In less than three minutes she was outside, walking down a path that took her around to the front of the embassy on Connecticut Avenue. She turned right and started to walk briskly. She saw the Mini Cooper coming toward her. Within seconds, she was across the street and in the car. Alexis shifted gears and peeled down the road.

  “How’d it go?” she asked, anxiety ringing in her voice.

  “Piece of cake, baby, piece of cake. I really didn’t see an
yone except the receptionist and those two guys who let me in. By the way, they keep the door locked at all times. This is just a guess on my part, but I think they’re operating with just a skeleton crew.”

  Traffic was light as Alexis drove down Connecticut Avenue. The roads were wet and slick with the falling snow. “Call Charles so he can let the others know we’re on our way back, then shed that outfit. Your new duds are on the back seat.”

  Julia looked over her shoulder. She started to laugh when she saw the snow-white Stetson. “Damn, you are good. How’d you know I always wanted to be a cowgirl?”

  “You told me once if you couldn’t be an actress you wanted to be a cowgirl. I took that into consideration.”

  “I was ten years old when those desires were the most important thing in the world to me. Look at me now, I’m a doctor who can’t practice my profession because my husband gave me AIDS. I’m fighting for my life by undergoing experimental treatment in Switzerland. Don’t think I’m complaining, Alexis. I’m just grateful I’m alive.”

  “And you’re going to stay that way for a very long time. Hey, did you see how well your plant is doing? We all literally hover over it and breathe on it. It’s thriving, just like you are.”

  “Thanks,” was all Julia could say as she struggled to dress herself in the new outfit. This time she would be wearing jeans, plaid shirt, denim jacket, cowboy boots, a blonde wig with a ponytail and the white Stetson.

  “Home, James!” she giggled.

  Alexis smiled. It was good to see and hear the old Julia. “You got it, Miss Cowgirl!”

  Charles looked around the war room. Even though it was almost midnight, the women looked wired. Especially Myra and Julia. He wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing. He stepped down and away from the bank of computers where he’d been working. “Let’s talk, ladies. We need to decide on Mr. Chai’s punishment.”